Alonzo Spellman was late for practice Saturday, but the...

December 01, 1992|By Robert Markus.

Alonzo Spellman was late for practice Saturday, but the rookie linebacker wasn`t about to let reporters make him late for an airplane Monday. ``I`ve got to catch a flight out of here in an hour,`` he said when asked about the transgression that had prompted coach Mike Ditka to sit him out of Sunday`s 27-14 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

Spellman wouldn`t say where he was going, but apparently he didn`t have a one-way ticket out of town. ``Tomorrow we can talk about it,`` he promised. It was the second time this season that Spellman had come late to a Saturday workout. This time, said Ditka, ``It will cost him some money. But that`s not what`s important. It`s a thing called priorities. As much as we had fun when we were playing-we caroused at times-never were we late for a practice.``

Ditka added, ``It shows you there is no indispensable man. It doesn`t matter who it is, regardless if he`s a first-round draft choice. Unless he abides by the rules, he won`t dress and he won`t play.``

- Jimmy ``Big Cat`` Williams, the defensive lineman who has been working out at offensive tackle, could see some action there Monday night in Houston, according to Ditka, who said he also is considering moving Stan Thomas to guard.

``We`re going to try to get (Williams) some playing time at offensive tackle this week,`` said Ditka, ``and the other guy we`re trying to get back is Louis Age.``

As for the proposed shift of Thomas, ``That`s what we`re looking at,``

said Ditka. ``The thing that hurts him more than anything is he doesn`t handle the outside rush very well. You`re not as susceptible to that when you`re playing guard.``

- Ditka didn`t give the defense a free pass just because it held the Browns to 158 yards and only one short touchdown drive. ``This is a team effort to be lousy,`` he said. ``This is a consortium. Everybody has pitched in, and we finally reached the pinnacle.``

Ditka acknowledged that the defense played well in most areas Sunday, but ``you`ve got to realize Cleveland had the ball 35 minutes. Good defenses don`t let (that happen).``

- Eric Metcalf`s 75-yard punt return for a TD was the first against Chris Gardocki in the NFL, but not the first of his career. ``I had one in college,`` Gardocki recalled, ``against Florida State my freshman year.``

The returner was Deion Sanders, and Gardocki had no more luck chasing him down than he did Sunday against Metcalf. ``Let`s just say they`re both faster than I was,`` said Gardocki, asked for comparisons. On Sunday`s return, ``I just didn`t get a real good punt off and they blocked us well.``